Court ruling allows Helicopter Adventures to continue flying over Myrtle Beach

A Plantation Point man said he is not sure what the next steps will be after learning that an S.C. Court of Appeals judge ruled that a Myrtle Beach helicopter tour company could continue to operate near his neighborhood.

In an opinion, written by Justice Stephanie P. McDonald, issued Wednesday, the appeals court upheld a ruling by Circuit Court Judge Larry Hyman in favor of Helicopter Adventures.

Plantation Point resident Richard Hinde said it was disheartening to learn the appeals court sided with Helicopter Adventures.

Helicopter Adventures, a helicopter tour company opened in 2012 with a launching pad off 21st Avenue North behind Broadway Grand Prix.

Residents have opposed the company since it opened.

“The people over here can’t sell their homes because the property values have dropped,” Hinde said. “Your biggest investment is your home and you can’t even go outside and enjoy it because every nice day they’re flying. And you can’t see it. So what are you supposed to do?”

The court of appeals was determining whether a helicopter tour company is a permitted use in the county’s amusement-commercial zoning. The Horry County zoning administrator originally said it was, then the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals said it wasn’t.

Hyman ruled in 2013 that it is allowed in that zoning. Horry County, supporting its Zoning Board of Appeals, also is a party in the case along with Hinde. Hinde appealed the case to the court of appeals, which held oral arguments Oct. 8, 2014.

According to the opinion, Hinde was asking the court to add “the limiting words ‘by ground transportation’ or ‘by bus or jeep’ to the county ordinance that regulates the amusement-commercial zone.

“The court is prohibited from writing into an ordinance language restricting property rights to a greater degree than intended by the legislative body,” McDonald wrote in the opinion.

The North Myrtle Beach Board of Zoning and Appeals will hear a request for a special exception to operate a helicopter tour company proposed on Windy Hill Road Extension behind a Walgreens pharmacy. It is the company’s second attempt at exception after failing when the proposed property was on the other side of Windy Hill Road Extension.

Freddie Rick, owner of Helicopter Adventures in Myrtle Beach, could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Court ruling allows Helicopter Adventures to continue flying over Myrtle Beach."